Sami al-Hajj
| place_of_birth = Khartoum, Sudan | date_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest= | arresting_authority= | date_of_release = | place_of_release= | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = | group = | alias = | charge = No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Released after six years | csrt_summary = | csrt_transcript= | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj ( ), aka Sami Al-Haj (Khartoum, Sudan, February 15, 1969) is a Sudanese journalist for the Al Jazeera network. In 2001, while on his way to do camera work for the network in Afghanistan, he was arrested by the Pakistani army and held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba for over six years. He was released without charge on May 1, 2008 with two other detainees from Sudan. He plans to launch legal action against George W. Bush. Background Al Hajj was arrested in Pakistan on December 15, 2001. He was on his way to work in Afghanistan as a cameraman for Al Jazeera and had a legitimate visa. He was held as an "enemy combatant" at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, with Guantanamo Internment Serial Number 345, and was the only journalist to be held in Guantanamo. He began a hunger strike on January 7, 2007 during which he lost over 55 pounds.http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=39128 A special report by BBC Radio 4 gave an exclusive glimpse of the world inside Guantanamo Bay detention centre, told through the letters of al-Hajj. Letters from Guantanamo, BBC, September 27, 2006 British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith represented Al Hajj, and was able to visit him in 2005. According to Smith, Al Hajj reported: *He had been beaten. Smith said he had a huge scar on his face. *He witnessed guards flushing a Qur'an down a toilet. *He witnessed guards defacing a Qur'an with swear words. *He has been sexually assaulted. *He has been interrogated roughly 130 times. On 23 November 2005, Stafford-Smith reported that, during (125 of 130) interviews, US officials had questioned Sami as to whether Al Jazeera was a front for al-Qaeda. Smith offered the opinion: :"He is completely innocent. He is about as much of a terrorist as my granddad. The only reason he has been treated like he has is because he is an Al Jazeera journalist. The Americans have tried to make him an informant with the goal of getting him to say that Al Jazeera is linked to Al Qaida." Al Jazeera has responded that Al Hajj reported his passport stolen in Sudan in 1999, and that anything done with the passport after that date was likely the work of identity thieves. During Sami al-Hajj's time in captivity Reporters Without Borders repeatedly expressed concern over his detention, mentioning Al Hajj in its annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, and launched a petition for his release. Al Hajj went on hunger strike in January 2007 http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/84275/ along with a few other inmates in protest of their treatment in Guantanamo. In response to the hunger strike, Al Hajj (and the other inmates) had been force-fed during their captivity. Al Hajj's hunger strike lasted 438 days until he was set free on 1 May 2008.http://www.voltairenet.org/article157846.html Combatant Status Review Tribunal Initially the George W. Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the "War on Terror". This policy was challenged before the courts. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status. Subsequently the United States Department of Defense (USDoD) instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant. Although Clive Stafford Smith quotes from Al Hajj's Combatant Status Review Tribunal it does not seem to be present in the transcripts the USDoD released on March 3, 2006. Allegations Stafford-Smith summarized the allegations from Al Hajj's Combatant Status Review Tribunal:Call for Sami Al-Haj's release from Guantanamo after lawyer provides new information, reporters without borders, April 19, 2006 :"...that he had allegedly run a website that supported terrorism, that he had trafficked in arms, that he entered Afghanistan illegally in October 2001 while US air strikes were under way, and that he interviewed Osama bin Laden." A biography of Al Hajj, by one of his Al Jazeera colleagues, paraphrases five allegations from his CSRT:Sami Al Hajj: Case Study in War on Terror ‘Justice’, ''cageprisoners *''"The US says that Sami travelled to the middle East, the Balkans, and the Caucasus for clandestine purposes. *''"The US says that Sami has an internet site that supports terrorists. *''"The US says that Sami is a businessman who sold Stinger missiles to Chechen rebels. *''"The US says that Sami was caught sneaking into Afghanistan. *''"The US says Sami interviewed OBL." Ahmad Ibrahim, Al Hajj's colleague who wrote the biography, says all these allegations are false. A Summary of Evidence memo apparently drafted on October 22, 2004, for Sami Al Hajj's Combatant Status Review Tribunal was released to the public in September 2007. It states: First annual Administrative Review Board hearing A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his first annual Administrative Review Board. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Transcript Al Hajj chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 121 Second annual Administrative Review Board hearing A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his second annual Administrative Review Board on 4 September 2006. The following primary factors favor continued detention in another country. Because the detainee did not have a business, he used another business' registration documents. The detainee additionally falsified the documents to show himself as a co-owner and show his passport to read businessman vice accountant. :5. The detainee stated that he delivered 120,000 United States Dollars to a business partner for a flour factory and 100,000 United States Dollars to the director of Al Haramayn. The business partner was responsible for obtaining the proper registration for the flour factory form Azerbaijan authorities, so the 120,000 United States Dollars was supposed to get the land and the machines for the factory. :6. The detainee stated that he was arrested in Azerbaijan for the transport of 220,000 United States Dollars for what he was told was a humanitarian mission which was instead destined for Chechen rebels. :7. The detainee stated he had twenty-two 10,000 United States Dollar bills carried by his wife under her belly. :8. The detainee stated that in March or April 2000, he left the Union Beverage Company and went to work for Al Jazeera Media in Doha, Qatar. :9. The detainee stated that he was hired at Al Jazeera because he agreed to go to Chechnya to do a story. :10. The detainee stated that on 11 October 2001, he flew from Doha, Qatar to Quetta, Pakistan. On or about 13 October 2001, the detainee received a visa from the Afghanistan Embassy to enter their country. On or about 16 or 17 October 2001, the detainee and a co-worker went to Kandahar, Afghanistan. :11. The detainee stated that in early December 2001, while attempting to return to Afghanistan, he was stopped at the border by Pakistani security at Chaman, Pakistan and was unable to obtain exit visas. The detainee was told that Pakistani security received a facsimile that questioned his travel documents. The detainee stated according to Pakistan security, the passport he had in his possession did not agree with the Pakistan records. b. Connections/Associations :1. The detainee stated that while he was working at Union Beverage Company, he interacted with the individual in charge of distribution of juice in Azerbaijan. :2. In March 2003, the individual who was in charge of juice distribution in Azerbaijan was under investigation for possible ties to terrorism. :3. The Union Beverage Company has been associated with known Bosnian and Chechen Mujahed. :4. The detainee stated he interacted with an individual who he heard was arrested in Germany in September 1998 and subsequently extradited to the United States. :5. The detainee stated that he stayed in Kandahar, Afghanistan for 29 days. While there, the detainee and a co-worker interviewed the Treasury Minister of the Taliban, the Minister of Electricity, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. :6. The detainee stated he interviewed a man who identified himself as a member of the al Qaida. }} The following primary factors favor release or transfer Transcript There is no record that Sami Al Hajj chose to participate in his second annual Administrative Review Board hearing. Allegations Stafford-Smith summarized the allegations from Al Hajj's Combatant Status Review Tribunal: Call for Sami Al-Haj's release from Guantanamo after lawyer provides new information, reporters without borders, April 19, 2006 ^ Sami Al-Hajj: Case Study in War on Terror ‘Justice’, cageprisoners ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 121 ^ [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 0|''a]] [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 1|b'']] [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 2|''c]] [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 3|d'']] [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 4|''e]] [[# ref-TheGuardian070223 5|f'']] ^ [[# ref-RWBorders 0|''a]] [[# ref-RWBorders 1|b'']] Call for Sami Al-Haj's release from Guantanamo after lawyer provides new information, reporters without borders, April 19, 2006 ^ ^ Subsequent Administrative Review Boards The Associated Press reported, on February 23, 2007, that Al Hajj's continued detention was recently reviewed by a subsequent Administrative Review Board. He learned that he was not one of the eighty captives who that round of Administrative Review Boards had recommended for release or transfer. According to the Associated Press: "His colleagues at Al Jazeera claim his detention is American harassment of an Arabic TV network whose coverage has long angered U.S. officials." The AP article quoted the comments of Lamis Andoni, an Al-Jazeera Middle East analyst, about the November 2001 and April 2003 bombings of Al-Jazeera's offices: ''"When you are targeted once, it could be a mistake, But when you are bombed twice, it's something else." AP reported that the director of the Joint Intelligence Group, Paul Rester, claimed: ''"I consider the information that we obtained from him to be useful" — AP noted that Rester declined to offer any substantiation for this claim. The AP article describes the Union Beverage Company as a Qatar-based company, not an Indiana-based company. is actually based in Illinois. It described Al Haramain as a "defunct charity", without saying that it had been shut down due to American suspicions that it had been subverted, from within, to support terrorism. During his first Administrative Review Board hearing Sami said he was going to decline to reply to the factors, on legal advice. The article quoted Sami's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, addressing some of the factors: *Smith said Sami was not a clandestine financial courier. But: "...he and his wife once carried $220,000 from Qatar to Azerbaijan for his boss at the beverage company - and that he even declared the cash to customs. *Smith acknowledged Sami met Mamdouh Mahmud Salim: ''"while working for the beverage company, met Salim only once, when he was sent to pick him up at the airport in Qatar in 1998. During the drive, the two discussed schools and housing." Health According to Reporters Without Borders, al-Hajj has throat cancer and the camp authorities are withholding medical treatment. Smith reports that al-Hajj recently talked of taking his own life. According to Reporters without Borders: :“Aside from the fact that Guantanamo Bay is a legal and humanitarian scandal, the Americans seem to be holding Al-Haj simply because they have it in for Al-Jazeera. How else can you explain the fact that he has been held for four years without being charged while other journalists have been cleared and released in no time at all ?” The web-site http://prisoner345.net/sami-haj reports that Sami had throat cancer in 1998, which went into remission. He had been prescribed anti-cancer drugs, which he was supposed to take every day, for the rest of his life. The site reports that Sami's anti-cancer drugs have been withheld from him. The site also reports that guards shattered Sami's knee, that his injury also requires medical treatment, and that medical treatment for this injury was also being withheld. On August 22, 2007, Clive Stafford Smith told Reporters without Borders that he had found al-Hajj's health had seriously deteriorated since his last visit. He said that al-Hajj looked more frail, and visibly had trouble concentrating. On September 10, 2007 Clive Stafford Smith reported that al Hajj had been on a his current hunger strike since January 7, 2007. He reported that Al Hajj was focuessed on the worry that he would be the next captive to die. He also reported that Al Hajj was losing his ability to speak English. On September 11, 2007, Al-Jazeera reported that al-Hajj was suffering from depression and was losing the will to live.Al Jazeera English - News - Al-Hajj 'Suffering From Depression' On October 19, 2007, the Press Gazette said al-Hajj had lost over 55 pounds since beginning his hunger strike in January. His true state of health is unknown as notes from meetings with his lawyer must be cleared by U.S. authorities, and may not reveal specifics on his health or mental state.Press Gazette - Fears grow for hunger strike journalist held in Guantanamo Hunger strike Sami Al Hajj went on hunger strike on 7 January 2007. The Al Jazeera website has published his demands which include; *The right for detainees to practice their religion freely and without duress. *Applying the Geneva Convention to the treatment of Guantanamo detainees. *Releasing a number of prisoners from isolation confinement, and in particular one Shakir Amer that has been in continued isolation since September 2005. *Conducting a full and fair investigation into the deaths of three prisoners who died in June 2006. *His release or trial by a federal US court. Zachary Katznelson, senior counsel of Reprieve, a London-based human rights group representing al-Haj, visited the cameraman at Guantanamo Bay on February 1. U.S. military officials declined to confirm whether al-Hajj was among the 12 currently on hunger strike. On April 18, 2007 the Sudanese Minister of Justice, Mohammad Ali Al-Marazi, condemned the United States' detention of al Hajj. Al-Marazi called Al Hajj's detention an "illegal act", which ran counter to human rights. He claimed it exposed American claims of supporting human rights as "false". Clive Stafford Smith's "Bad Men" On April 20, 2007 the UK newspaper, The Guardian, started publishing excerpts from Clive Stafford Smith's book, "Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay and the Secret Prisons". The April 21 issue's excerpt addressed many aspects of Al Hajj's detention. According to Smith: Documentary Al Jazeera producer Ahmad Ibrahim produced a 50 minute documentary in 2006 on Al Hajj's case, Prisoner 345. August 15th Press briefing On August 15, 2007 a question was asked about Al Hajj at a Department of State briefing : Release negotiation and release Ali Sadiq, an official with the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, stated on August 15, 2007 : Sami Al Hajj was released on May 1, 2008 from Guantanamo Bay and flown to Sudan. He arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on a US military plane in the early hours of Friday, May 2. Al Jazeera showed footage of him being carried into the hospital on a stretcher, looking frail but smiling and surrounded by well-wishers.Freed Guantanamo prisoner is home 2 May 2008, BBC BBC Reporter's Call for Release Alan Johnston, former Gaza Correspondent for the BBC, was abducted in Gaza City by armed gunmen from the Army of Islam and held for 113 days. During this time, Sami Al Hajj made a plea to Johnston's captors to let the journalist go. Following his release, Johnston made a similar plea for the release of Hajj, being held by the United States Government in Guantanamo. His letter to Sami, quoted below, was released to the National Union of Journalists: "While I was kidnapped recently in the Gaza Strip fellow journalists from around the world joined the campaign mounted to try to secure my release, and of course you were among them.... I was particularly grateful for your contribution given your own very difficult circumstances.... In the light of my own experience of incarceration I am aware of how hard it must be for you and your family to endure your detention, and I very much hope that your case might be resolved soon.... I understand that after some five years in Guantanamo you are calling to be allowed to answer any allegations that are being made against you. And of course I would always support any prisoner's right to a fair trial." Transliterations of Arabic name Official documents the United States Department of Defense has released gave the latinized version of Al Hajj's name as Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj except for one document released in September 2007. See also * Hunger strike * Guantanamo force feeding References External links *From Guantánamo to Desk at Al Jazeera, The New York Times, December 22, 2009 *Amnesty International case sheet *Aljazeera Guantanamo inmate 'abused', Al Jazeera, June 22, 2005 *Aljazeera interview with lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith, Al Jazeera, October 26, 2005 *Robert Fisk interview about Sami mp3 download *Sami al-Haj: the banned torture pictures of a journalist in Guantánamo Andy Worthington *An interview with Sami al-Haj, former Guantánamo prisoner and al-Jazeera journalist Andy Worthington *Sami al-Haj: “Torture is terrorism” Andy Worthington Category:Living people Category:Sudanese extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Sudanese people Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Journalists held in extrajudicial detention in the War on Terror Category:George W. Bush administration controversies Category:Al Jazeera people Category:People from Khartoum ar:سامي الحاج de:Sami Al-Haj fr:Liste de détenus de Guantánamo#Sami al-Haj no:Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj ru:Сами аль-Хадж fi:Sami al-Hajj